Relatives Sentenced in Baby Bones Case in Monmouth County

Three relatives from New York who pleaded guilty in December to charges in connection with burning and dumping the partial remains of nine-year-old Jon-Neice Jones in a Monmouth County Park have been sentenced to probation.

The child's 39-year-old aunt Likisha Jones and 36-year-old uncle James Jones, were each sentenced to two years probation on Friday in Monmouth County Superior Court in Freehold. The aunt's boyfriend, 49-year-old Godfrey Gibson, also received 364 days in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, as a condition of probation, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

In 2005, the victim's skeletal remains were discovered by a hunter on March 18, near Route 526 in Clayton Park in Upper Freehold. Through DNA testing, investigators identified the bones as belonging to a child who died in New York several years before. The investigation became known as the "Baby Bones" case.

Further investigation revealed the child died in August, 2002, at her aunt's Harlem residence, following years of abuse and neglect by the victim's mother, Elisha Jones, who died four months later. Authorities say the three defendants disposed of the girls body after lighting it on fire.

Although no one has been charged with murder in the case, the three defendants were charged with third degree Hindering Apprehension of Another and third degree Conspiracy to Hindering Apprehension of Another.